


Marked

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Lifeline [5]
Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Feels, Fluff, I Have So Many Emotions About These Two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 01:16:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14249922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Holding her breath, Jaz pulled back the bandage so Adam could see the tattoo. (Future fic)





	Marked

According to their official files, she and Adam lived at completely different apartments. Technically, that was true, but what their files didn't know was that they both lived at both apartments on alternating nights. They left and arrived at the base seperately, but they both had each other's keys and stored half their stuff at the other person's place.

The routine was familiar enough by now that Mrs. Opena, the old woman who lived at the end of the hall and considered herself the unofficial security guard for the building, waved at Jazz from the window. "He's a bit of a bear tonight, nieta," she called out. "Heard him growling at someone on the phone when he stomped up the stairs an hour ago."

"It's not his fault," Jaz called back. "He got stuck at work on a day I had off."

"Oooh, pobrecito." Mrs. Opena shook her head, making a sympathetic noise. "You should probably go up there and scratch behind his ears."

She smiled, hoping he'd still give her the chance after she showed him what she'd spent the day doing. "I'll do that."

Inside, she found Adam getting up from the couch, completely ignoring the college basketball game on TV. He must have started moving as soon as he heard her key in the lock, and the sudden enthusiasm beneath the exhaustion on his face was enough to make her chest squeeze tight. "Did you and Amir grab something on the way back?" he asked, pulling her into a hug he didn't bother pretending was anything more casual. "If not, I can call for pizza. By this point, Sal's has our usual order down to 15 minutes flat."

Which meant he _hadn't_ eaten, hoping he could do it with her. "Pizza sounds good," she said, letting herself just enjoy holding onto him for a little while. "But I have to show you something first."

"The new tattoo?" Picking up on the hesitation in her voice, he pulled back with a confused look. "Because I'm happy to see it, but it's definitely not a 'have to' situation. Unless it says 'I love McG,' I get no say in what you put on your body."

"Oh, I'm sure Amir would have at least made sure it was his name instead of McG's." She couldn't stop her shoulders from tensing as she stepped away completely, tugging down the edge of her pants. As she peeled away the tape holding the bandage to her hip, her voice sobered. "But, technically, I probably should have given you a say in this."

Holding her breath, she pulled back the bandage so he could see the tattoo. His expression blanked out completely for a second when he saw the date now written across her hip in simple black script, and Jaz braced herself for an argument. A beat later, though, it turned heartbreakingly fragile. "My birthday," he breathed, fingers tracing feather-light just above the numbers.

Jaz swallowed. "I knew it couldn't be your name, both because of the brass and because I don't want anything that can be traced back to you if I get captured again. But I figure there's enough distance with this I can lie about it if I had to."

He met her eyes, and she could see the question in them. Jaz knew she wasn't much of a romantic -- he'd never asked her to be -- and getting yourself tattooed with someone's birthday was the sort of soft, stupid thing she would have mocked at one point.

The person she'd been then was an idiot who never could have imagined her life now.

"I wanted a piece of you with me," she murmured, blinking hard against the sting in her eyes. "And I know you don't like celebrating your birthday much, but the day you came into the world is pretty damn important to me."

Now it was Adam's turn to swallow as he carefully rebandaged the tattoo, tugging her pants back up before laying the palm of his hand over the exact spot where the tattoo was. "I'll get mine the first day I have free," he said quietly, voice rough with emotion.

Jaz's breath caught. "You don't have to--"

He stopped the rest of what she'd been about to say with a soft kiss. "Since when are you the only one allowed to be a romantic in this relationship?" he asked lightly.

She slid her thumbs through his beltloops. "I'm serious, Adam. I didn't do this expecting some kind of return gesture from you."

His expression turned vulnerable again as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I want a piece of you with me, too."

Throat tightening, she stretched upward for a deeper, more intense kiss. When they broke apart, she smiled up at him. "So," she said lightly. "I hear you were a little growly today."

He groaned theatrically. "Did Preach call you?"

"Mrs. Opena yelled at me from the window." When he groaned again, pressing his face against her hair, she laughed and pulled him closer. "She worries about you. Thinks you don't smile enough."

He tightened his arms around her. "As soon as brass stops trapping me at the base with stupid meetings while you're off doing something else, I'm pretty sure we can solve that problem."

Jaz pressed her face against his neck, breathing him in. "I'm home now, though."

She heard his smile, even though she couldn't see it. "Yeah, you are."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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